John Reising's (jreising) Blog

Inflation pressures are mounting in the United States. And, Friday, the Consumer Price Index should prove it. More commonly called "The Cost of Living Index", CPI measures cost changes in the typical items bought by American households. Among others, CPI measures goods and service in apparel and ...

After this week ends, the FHA is raising mortgage insurance premiums on its new Phoenix borrowers. It's  the FHA's third such increase in the last 12 months. Beginning with FHA Case Numbers assigned April 18, 2011, mortgage insurance premiums will be higher by 25 basis points per year, or 0.25%. ...

The Federal Reserve released its March 15 meeting minutes Tuesday. The notes revealed a Federal Reserve split between optimism and caution for the U.S. economy. The minutes' official name is "Fed Minutes". It's a periodic publication, published 3 weeks after each meeting of the Federal Open Marke...

  In a volatile week of trading, mortgage markets closed unchanged last week. Despite economic data proving stronger-than-expected -- a situation that tends to lead mortgage rates higher -- concern for persistently high oil prices tempered Wall Street's excitement and mortgage rates stayed steady...

  Friday is a pivotal day for mortgage markets and conforming mortgage rates across Arizona.  At 8:30 AM ET, the government will release its March Non-Farm Payrolls report. More commonly known as "the jobs report", the monthly Non-Farm Payrolls is a market-mover and home buyers would do well to p...

Mortgage markets worsened last week on a turn-around in sentiment across the Eurozone. The sort of "safe haven" buying that had buoyed mortgage bonds since the New Year dissipated, and mortgage rates resumed climbing. Last week marked the first week since the end of 2010 that mortgage rates have ...

According to the foreclosure tracking firm, Realty Trac, the number of foreclosure filings nationwide dropped for the second straight month in December.  After falling 21% in November, filings were down by an additional 2% in December. "Foreclosure filing" is a catch-all term, comprising default ...

Credit card debt that is left unchecked can pile up quickly, especially for debtors making minimum payments.   According to the Federal Reserve, a credit card balance of $5,000 at 23.99% APR won't pay off for over 16 years.  That's one reason why it's important to manage your credit card rates, a...

Mortgage markets gained last week as a combination of safe-haven buying and an improving economic outlook attracted new buyers.  Demand for mortgage-backed bonds outweighed supply and conforming and FHA mortgage rates edged lower. Last week marked the second straight week that mortgage rates fell...

Despite tougher mortgage guidelines and better loan disclosures for consumers, mortgage fraud is on the rise, according to the FBI. Fraud has many varieties and the estimated cost to the nation is between $4-6 billion annually.  Today, common mortgage fraud scams target homeowners behind in their...